Not good news. Initial unemployment claims rose by 20K to 362K, as did the 4-week moving average and continuing claims, though extended claims fell, probably because of exhaustion of benefits.

Of more concern is that the Fed’s Open Market Committee minutes came out, and it looks like they are losing their nerve on quantitative easing:

The Federal Reserve signaled it may consider slowing the pace of asset purchases as officials extended a debate over whether record monetary easing risks unleashing inflation or fueling asset-price bubbles.

Several participants at the Federal Open Market Committee’s Jan. 29-30 meeting “emphasized that the committee should be prepared to vary the pace of asset purchases, either in response to changes in the economic outlook or as its evaluation of the efficacy and costs of such purchases evolved,” according to the minutes of the gathering released yesterday.

This is not the right time for the Fed to take its head off the accelerator pedal.